updated 03:30 pm EDT, Mon June 1, 2009

Microsoft Project Natal

Microsoft this afternoon unveiled a technology meant for the Xbox 360 but which is also a technology first. Nicknamed Project Natal, the system uses a camera to detect a player's entire body movement. It can not only recognize limbs and posture but is intelligent enough to distinguish between active players and those in the background. It also has a microphone and recognizes voice commands, effectively creating a true hands-free game console.

The control allows obvious visual parallels in games, such as grabbing a steering wheel to drive, fighting with punches or painting with hand gestures. However, it can equally be used for the main Xbox interface by swiping through menus with hands. Face detection lets players auto sign-in just by standing in front of the camera.

Microsoft has provided few more concrete details of software, prices or other features. It says only that Project Natal developer kits are being made available today and that both current as well as future Xbox 360s will work with the peripheral.

The add-on is a conscious attempt to compete with the popularity of the Nintendo Wii but also represents a significant jump in natural control for computer interfaces. At the company's E3 press conference, game developer Peter Molyneux and others explained that Natal removes the learning curve for using a device as owners don't have to memorize the buttons for physical peripherals.

Users expecting to have real life experiences, with real people, doing real things, are still disappointed by this new technology. When asked about view of the product, Joe Schmo said "I ordered a cup of coffee from the thing, and I never got it. When I went to sit down at the virtual cafe table, I fell on my but. I'm disappointed so far." ;)

How is this different from the technology in "Toysight Gold" at http://www.freeverse.com/ (which has been out for the last 5 years) or even some of the old Amiga software (12 years ago) that used cameras (and/or microphones) to interact with games, music and other applications?

Not new, not innovative either, and certainly NOT a "technology first".

How do MS get away with such blatant BS?

I was at the Epcot Centre in Florida over the new year period and in the queue for one of the "rides", they had 3 giant screens with a game projected onto them, each game was controlled by the movement of players' bodies in front of the screen. Limbs could interact with individual objects and the software was also able to distinguish between who was playing and who was simply watching.

Whoever set up those games at EPCOT is the real innovator, but perhaps Microsoft can do with this "borrowed" technology the only thing they do well: bring it to the unwashed (and I mean that literally) masses.